There weren’t many lines of attack that were out of bounds during the 2016 Referendum campaign, but one area that neither side ever deliberately sought to weaponise was the monarchy, and specifically the late Queen.
Everyone knew that Prince Charles, now our King, was a Europhile, but Elizabeth II never openly expressed a firm opinion either way.
And for good reason. Given the degree of respect and affection in which she was held by the British people, to have voiced a preference would have inevitably swayed public opinion.
It’s certainly the case that even her most carefully chosen words could have an effect. Arguably, when just four days before the Scottish referendum she remarked to a well-wisher, ‘I hope people will think very carefully about the future,’ she helped ensure Scotland remained within the Union. She knew her power and she used it wisely, which is why she always erred on the side of discretion.
But now a new book, Power And The Palace, by Times journalist Valentine Low, confidently asserts that the Queen was a Remainer, citing a senior minister at the time recalling her say: ‘We shouldn’t leave the EU. It’s better to stick with the devil you know.’
By way of strengthening his assertion, he also points out that when The Sun newspaper ran a front-page headline claiming, ‘Queen Backs Brexit’, the Palace issued a formal complaint – but stopped short of issuing a denial.
This, he claims, was most likely to avoid fuelling speculation that she privately favoured remaining within the EU. Calling the EU ‘better the devil you know’ is not exactly a ringing endorsement. But the truth is we have no real way of knowing, especially since, very sadly, her late Majesty is no longer around to speak for herself.
To my mind, the most likely truth is that, like many of us, she was rather conflicted on the matter.
‘To my mind, the most likely truth is that, like many of us, she was rather conflicted on the matter,’ writes Sarah Vine
David Cameron – who after all was PM at the time and therefore had regular access to her – probably puts it best when he notes that ‘she thought that European cooperation was necessary and important’
As a woman whose life and realm were shaped by post-war reconstruction, she would have appreciated the importance of collaboration with Europe. Then again, she was queen of a sovereign nation whose independence was frequently undermined by Brussels. There were advantages and disadvantages – and she appreciated both.
David Cameron – who after all was PM at the time and therefore had regular access to her – probably puts it best when he notes that ‘she thought that European cooperation was necessary and important, but the institutions of the EU sometimes can be infuriating’.
Certainly, the Queen’s staunch commitment to the Commonwealth would tend to support the idea that she favoured the ‘better together approach’.
Even so, I can’t help feeling that there is something a little distasteful about the Remain campaign – of which The Times was always an important part – trying to ‘own’ the late Queen, even at a distance of almost a decade.
We know they’ve never truly accepted the result of the referendum, and this feels like just another attempt to undermine it.
For me personally, it’s also an unpleasant reminder of the toxicity of the debate – and how even the slightest comment, however light-hearted or trivial, could be picked up, wilfully misinterpreted and twisted out of all sense of proportion.
Of how both sides, frankly, would stop at nothing to tear the other apart. I know this because I was at the heart of it all. I know the lies that were told, the deals that were broken, the lines that were crossed.
Some of it I’ve written about; some of it is still far too inflammatory to reveal; some of it is not my story to tell.
But believe me: whatever unpleasantness was visible on the surface, what lay beneath was much worse.
Her late Majesty’s studious neutrality was an important part of why things didn’t get much uglier. Not just on this issue but on others, too.
Always, her strength of character and clarity of vision had a stabilising effect, even in the most tumultuous of times. She was an important part of why Britain remained for so long such a fundamentally civilised country and why, as we approach the third anniversary of her death on September 8, it feels like so much of what she built and stood for is slipping away.
In life, she went out of her way to remain neutral on matters of high political drama. In death, it’s only fair we respect her wishes.
- It enrages me that Robin Westman, the 23-year-old trans school shooter from Minneapolis who killed two children – Fletcher Merkel, eight, and Harper Moyski, ten – and seriously injured many others, is being referred to as a ‘she’. He was male. A troubled, sick young man, like the majority of mass shooters.
Let’s hear it for beards 
Ed Balls and our very own Boris Johnson have both been sporting summer stubble – and quite honestly, I’m rather jealous, says Sarah Vine
It’s ‘holiday beard’ time, when ordinarily clean-shaven men throw caution to the wind and allow nature to flourish.
Ed Balls and our very own Boris Johnson have both been sporting summer stubble – and quite honestly, I’m rather jealous.
Forget facelifts: there’s nothing like a bit of five o’clock shadow to disguise the inevitable jowliness that comes with the passage of time.
I have huge sympathy for the family of the actor Bruce Willis, who has frontotemporal dementia. Last week, his wife announced that they have moved him into separate accommodation with full-time care. It’s soul-destroying seeing someone’s personality being eroded by this horrible disease. But unlike many others, at least they have the wherewithal to take care of him with dignity and compassion and at limited cost to their own sanity. Far too many in their situation do not.
Such a modern Millie 
Millie Bobby Brown and her husband Jake Bongiovi have just adopted a baby
People have expressed consternation that Millie Bobby Brown, star of Stranger Things, appears so sorted at the age of 21. She’s married to her long-time boyfriend Jake, and the couple have just adopted a baby.
There’s no crazy Hollywood lifestyle for these two: they live quietly on their ranch with rescue animals, including a donkey called Bernard and a therapy dog named Winnie. Oddly, this doesn’t surprise me.
My experience of this age group – through my daughter, 22, and her friends – is that they have their heads almost preternaturally screwed on. Compared to my generation, they seem more self-assured, focused. Above all, they know what they want, a certainty that even now, age 58, still eludes me. Stranger things, indeed.